Franciscan complex calera limestones: Accreted remnants of farallon plate oceanic plateaus

Nature
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Abstract

The Calera Limestone, part of the Franciscan Complex of northern California, may have formed in a palaeoenvironment similar to Hess and Shatsky Rises of the present north-west Pacific1. We report here new palaeomagnetic results, palaeontological data and recent plate-motion models that reinforce this assertion. The Calera Limestone may have formed on Farallon Plate plateaus, north of the Pacific-Farallon spreading centre as a counterpart to Hess or Shatsky Rises. In one model2, the plateaus were formed by hotspots close to the Farallon_Pacific ridge axis. On accretion to North America, plateau dissection in the late Cretaceous to Eocene (50-70 Myr) could explain the occurrence of large volumes of pillow basalt and exotic blocks of limestone in the Franciscan Complex. Partial subduction of the plateaus could have contributed to Laramide (70-40 Myr) compressional events3. ?? 1985 Nature Publishing Group.
Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Franciscan complex calera limestones: Accreted remnants of farallon plate oceanic plateaus
Series title Nature
DOI 10.1038/317345a0
Volume 317
Issue 6035
Year Published 1985
Language English
Larger Work Type Article
Larger Work Subtype Journal Article
Larger Work Title Nature
First page 345
Last page 347
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